


You Will Get a Sentimental Feeling

by IntrovertedRavenclaw



Series: Malec Holiday Sickfics [3]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Caring Magnus Bane, Christmas Party, M/M, Party Planning, Sick Alec Lightwood, Sickfic, Stressed Magnus Bane
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-23
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-09-25 04:18:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17114330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IntrovertedRavenclaw/pseuds/IntrovertedRavenclaw
Summary: It's the day of Magnus' annual holiday party, and Alec isn't feeling well but tries to hold it together for Magnus.





	You Will Get a Sentimental Feeling

**Author's Note:**

> This was a prompt from MeMeMe that I adored. :) It's not exactly this, but here was the original comment:
> 
> "Maybe when they're planning their holiday celebration, Magnus is too busy to notice Alec is getting sick as quickly as he did today. Alec is quiet and irritable all day but like: sometimes people have bad days, whatever, it's been a stressful week, Magnus is rolling with it as patiently as he can. And then something goes wrong-- minor, like the lights don't work or the cake is misspelled or whatever best suits your imagination of the kind of event they're having-- and Alec totally melts down about it, in a way that isn't like him, and that's how Magnus finds out Alec has a fever of like a million and he's been trying to hold it together, which is not super working at this stage. Cuddling and caretaking ensue."  
> Enjoy!

Magnus' annual holiday party is well-known among the downworld, and this year Alec is happy to have a part in helping it all come together. Even though he is not someone who enjoys parties— Magnus says he's an introvert almost to an extreme, but then Magnus is an extrovert, Alec assumes— he likes to be needed and depended on. That role is natural for him, and especially during this time of year, where everything is that much more stressful, Alec enjoys the sense of being depended on by his loved ones. 

Alec wakes up on the day of the party, his head pounding, his throat dry, and his mind churning with the mental list of everything that has to be done today. When he sits up, a wave of dizziness hits him but he dismisses it and gets out of bed anyway.

"Morning," Magnus greets as Alec heads straight for the coffee. 

"Good morning," Alec rasps, pouring himself a cup of coffee. He takes a sip and it tastes extra bitter and turns his stomach. He fakes a smile, hoping that Magnus doesn't notice that something is off. Magnus has a way of knowing that Alec isn't feeling his best, sometimes before even Alec himself knows it.

Magnus is too preoccupied with the party planning to pay much attention to the fact that Alec is slightly off his game today, which Alec is grateful for. He does not want to get in the way of this for Magnus at all, especially when the two of them have been planning this night for months. 

"The cake should be delivered around two, and after that, we can start setting out hors-d'oeuvres..." Magnus trails off, thinking. "Do you think you can handle putting the string lights up?"

"Sure," Alec leans onto the counter as his head starts to spin slightly. "Where are the lights? I'll put them up right now."

Magnus snaps his fingers and a neat coil of white Christmas lights appears on the counter. "These will look best if you trim the walls with them; subtle but still festive and classy."

Alec kisses Magnus briefly on his way out of the kitchen and starts his task of putting lights up around the living room. Alec is tall, but not tall enough, he realizes, to reach the edges of the high ceilings in the loft, so he finds a stool in Magnus' office area and stands on it to get to the desired height for the lights. He's just fastening a corner of the lights in place when he loses his balance completely and topples off the stool, hitting the ground with a thud. 

He hears Magnus run into the room while he himself is still laying on the floor, a stream of curse words coming out of his mouth. 

"Are you alright, darling?" Magnus asks. "What happened?"

"I hate decorating," Alec sighs. Assessing the damage, he doesn't think he's injured, but he definitely doesn't feel right, and he definitely, _definitely_ does not want Magnus fussing over him, so he says nothing. 

Magnus appears to survey the room and put two and two together, so he jokes, "so much for that perfect balance rune."

Normally, Alec would have laughed, but he only scowls at Magnus before climbing back up onto the stool to fix the lights. Magnus' expression appears vaguely hurt, but he covers it quickly with a smile.

Once the lights are in place, Alec goes to take a shower, hoping that it will refresh and energize him, as he is feeling crummier by the minute. 

Of course, nothing seems to be going his way today and the hot water and steam only makes his nose run and his head spin even more. He shivers hard as he steps out of the shower, despite the fact that his head feels uncomfortably hot. Still, he decides to not say anything to Magnus and gets dressed to go out and continue setting up for the party. 

* * *

 

"Alexander, will you get the door?" Magnus calls as the doorbell rings. "I think that's the cake delivery."

"Got it," Alec calls back weakly; there is now an ever-present tickle in his throat and he's spent the last few hours trying to hold back coughs. He opens the door to a mundane girl holding a white box.

"Hi," she greets. "The cake you ordered?"

"Thank you," Alec takes the box from her. He clears his throat and winces slightly at the soreness. "How much do I owe you?"

"It was all paid for already when the order was placed," the girl explains cheerfully. "Enjoy! Merry Christmas!"

Alec goes into the kitchen and sets the box down on the counter, carefully lifting the cake out of the box to set on the counter that has already been laid out with a variety of exotic snacks. 

His nose is running, his throat hurts, and he sneezes unexpectedly, dropping the cake in his hurried attempt to turn his head so as not to sneeze on the perfectly iced cake. The thin metal plate that the cake had been placed on clatters to the floor as Alec sneezes again. 

Magnus rushes into the room at the crash sound for the second time that day. "What was that? Are you oka..." he trails off, seeing the sad remains of the cake on the floor. 

"Oh my god," Alec gasps. "Oh, god. By the Angel, I-"

"You... dropped the cake?" Magnus asks, calm but obviously disappointed. He kneels down, sizing up the remains. "I.. don't think it's fixable. Oh, god, and the guests will be showing up any minute now."

Alec manages a frustrated sigh as another wave of dizziness rolls over him. 

"What is up with you today?" Magnus asks. "It's like all of this party decorating is too much for you to handle."

"Well, maybe it is." Alec snaps back coldly. "You know I've been stressed with Institute work lately. But hey, let's throw a giant holiday party on top of it! Great idea." 

"This is important to me," Magnus retorts, an equal amount of frustration in his voice. There's more that Magnus says, but Alec feels very nauseous suddenly and isn't paying much attention to his boyfriend's words. "I'm always willing to help you, so I had hoped you would help with this one thing, but-"

"I think I'm gonna throw up," Alec interjects, and stumbles to the bathroom. He kneels over the toilet, shaking violently until he gags. He can feel a heavily-ringed hand start to rub circles on his back while he heaves, and wants to cry. When he's emptied his stomach, he reaches to flush the toilet miserably and leans against Magnus. 

"Alec, I am so sorry," Magnus says. "Have you felt like this all day?"

"Maybe n-not this bad," Alec admits. "But yeah. I've felt bad all day."

"We're canceling," Magnus decides, already drafting a text to send to his party guests.

"No, it's okay," Alec croaks. "Don't cancel because of me. I'll just rest in the bedroom. You said it yourself, this is important to you."

"You're more important to me than some stupid party, Alexander." Magnus looks at him with such utter sympathy Alec tears up a little. "Hey, it's alright." He conjures up a wet washcloth and cleans the sweat off of Alec's forehead before wiping around his mouth. 

Alec gives a trembling sigh. "I'm sorry."

"You're sick, sweetheart, it's not your fault." Magnus chides gently. He conjures a glass of water and hands it to Alec, who rinses his mouth out a few times but doesn't trust his stomach enough to actually swallow. "Wanna go to bed?"

Alec nods, standing up shakily and dragging himself to the bedroom. Magnus helps him change into more comfortable clothes and tucks him into bed, brushing a hand across his forehead. 

"Alec! You're burning up!" Magnus exclaims. "You've had a high fever all day and didn't think to tell me about it?"

"I didn't want... to mess this up." Alec croaks. He coughs weakly. "I've been dizzy and coughing and sneezing. My throat hurts too, but I wasn't nauseous until more recently. I didn't know I had a fever."

"I can help with the nausea, at least," Magnus says, blue sparks coming to his fingertips. Alec feels better almost immediately. 

"Mm. Thank you." Alec sighs. "Still feel like crap, but less."

"I'll get you some tea, blankets, and tissues," Magnus promises. "I'm so sorry I didn't notice something was wrong. Especially since you're this sick. I think you have the flu."

"I'll be fine, Magnus." Alec reaches out and takes his hand. "In the meantime, cuddle with me?"

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry this was a bit shorter than the other but Christmas really snuck up on me this year and I have a few more fics I want to get out before then. Leave a comment if you enjoyed, comments keep me going! Also feel free to leave a suggestion for another holiday-themed sickfic if you want, I may or may not get to it but I appreciate your suggestions all the same!


End file.
